Experience in the secondary created high preseason expectations for the 2021 Kentucky defense. In the first road test of the season, two of the youngest defensive backs on the field were the difference-makers, Carrington Valentine and Jalen Geiger.
The two young Wildcats accounted for six of the team’s 48 tackles, but those numbers don’t paint a clear picture of the impact each player made Saturday night at South Carolina.
Geiger was on the radar of few fans entering the season. No. 34 popped off the page in a few critical situations, making an open-field tackle on third down to force a punt and recording a critical tackle for loss that stalled a South Carolina fourth quarter drive.